Summer is the Time for Love
by moonhaku
Summary: "When will I see you again?" "Next summer." "And after that?" "Every summer, Hinata, I will come." Sasuke/Hinata
1. Solstice

_**Summer is the Time for Love**_

**Summary: **"When will I see you again?" "Next summer." "And after that?" "Every summer, Hinata, I will come." But he didn't keep his promise. I never saw him again. Sasuke/Hinata

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

* * *

**+Prologue: Solstice**

"Ow!" The diminutive girl tripped over the tree root and fell face first into a patch of mushrooms. She pushed herself up with her small hands, her knees and hands scratched and dirt on her face. Hot tears left a clean streak as they ran down her grimy cheeks. She started crying softly, "Hn..hn…hngh…"

"You're such a crybaby."

She looked up at the speaker, a young boy just around her age. He was standing in front of her, watching her, not bothering to help. His eyes were black, matching well with his hair, but standing out painfully from the bright forest scene around him. She stared at him for a second, her tears dried in surprise at the stranger.

"Who…who are you?" Her tiny voice trembled, not from fear, but from habit.

"Those mushrooms are poisonous, you know." He didn't answer her question, but instead, looked down at the place where she was sitting.

"W-what!" The little girl stood up quickly and tried to brush off her hands on her shirt. Using the back of her hand, she wiped her face, smearing the dirt and snot around in a terrific mess.

"Here." A white handkerchief was thrust into her vision. She stared at it. The owner of it rolled his black eyes and pushed it out to here again, "Don't just stare at it, idiot!"

"Th-thanks…" She stuttered softly and took the white cloth from his hand. The material turned dirty in a few hard swipes at her face, but it only served to make the mess worse. She stared at the cloth sadly. It was too dry to clean her face.

"It's not working?" He asked, perplexed. She nodded softly while biting her bottom lip.

"S-sorry…"

"What do you mean?" His eyes bore into her white ones. Quickly, she averted his gaze, letting her dark bangs fall over her eyes, again, out of habit. "You don't have to say sorry. It's not like you did anything wrong."

"S-sorry…" She bit her lip again. What an odd stranger.

"We should find some water."

"Th-there's a cr-creek over there." She whispered quietly and pointed in the direction where she had been heading.

"Oh." He looked in the general direction she pointed at, as if he could see the creek through the thick foliage. His skin was pale; he wasn't from around the country. She had never seen him before; and she was sure that she knew everyone in the tiny farming town. "Well, let's go."

He headed off, stepping over the fallen branches and climbing over the fallen tree. She stood up quickly and tried to shake off the dirt on her purple dress. Her mother would scold her again for getting it dirty. She followed the strange boy, this time, paying attention to the tree roots and branches on the ground. The boy was already far ahead of her, occasionally looking back, waiting for her to catch up.

When they had passed the same mushroom patch twice, she knew that they were lost.

"W-wait!" She called out to the boy in front of her, still obliviously searching. "I-I think we're going around in circles."

"I'm not lost!" He replied hotly. His flustered face told her quite the opposite. She giggled, covering her mouth with her slight hand when he scowled. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

"I-I think we just have to go through there," she ran up to him and pointed to a grove with wild peonies growing on the side. They both looked over there, and the faint sound of water reached their ears. She smiled, "See? You can hear the water."

"I was going to go there anyway." The boy said brusquely, and stomped off. The girl giggled again; this was a funny stranger. Or was it just because he was a boy? She caught up to him just as they reached the dark grove. Sunlight fell in patches on the overgrown dirt path. He stopped apprehensively, as if wondering if he should take a step inside. She nudged his shoulder gently.

"Y-you're not scared, are you?"

"Of course not!" He retorted and walked into the grove. Halfway through, they stopped in front of a small creek. The clear water flowed quickly over moss-covered rocks and small, worn-down pebbles. It was only a bit more than four feet wide. The shallow water was only two or three feet deep. At the bottom were shadows of fish darting around, mere grey specks. Sunlight made the water shine.

The boy knelt down and dipped the dirty handkerchief into the water. He handed it to the girl. She winced as the cool water made the small scrapes on her hands sting.

"I'll do it." He took the cloth and wiped her hands gently, and then wiped the grime off of her face.

"Ow…" She bit her lips and tried not to yelp. He dipped the handkerchief into the water again, washing it clean before wiping down her knees. "That hurts…"

"I know," he answered. "How old are you?"

"I.." She held up her fingers, counting silently in her head. "I'm six."

"I just turned seven." He smiled proudly. "But you act like a baby."

She pouted at him. "No I don't."

"Then why were you crying?"

"I fell down!"

"It's just a small scratch."

"It hurt!"

"Only babies cry when they get hurt!"

"Well," she balled her fists. "You were the one who got lost."

"No I didn't!" He scowled again and retorted angrily, "I didn't get lost!"

"Yes you did."

"No!"

"Did too!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! Did too!"

"Did not! Did not! Did not! Did not! Did not! Did not…" He stopped as the girl began to giggle. Then he started to laugh too. The lighthearted laughter filled the grove, reverberating across the forest. A frog jumped in between them, startling the boy. _Ribbit. _

"Ah!" He jumped back, pointing at the slimy amphibian. "It's a frog!"

"A frog!" The girl exclaimed. "I-it's so cute!" She reached out to touch it but the frog jumped out of her reach, into the creek and swam off. Looking disappointed, she withdrew her hand.

"You wanted to touch that thing?" The boy, recovered, looked at her incredulously as if would never think of touching such a thing. He probably never would.

"It's cute."

"You're crazy!"

"Scaredy cat." She stuck out her tongue at him. "I-it's just a frog."

"I've only seen them on TV." He scowled and poked her cheek.

"Ow!" She rubbed her cheek. "Y-you're not from Konoha, are you?"

"No. I'm from Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" She tipped her head. The name sounded vaguely familiar. "Is that near here?"

"Here?" He snorted, "No. Tokyo is a really big city. It's really far away from this dump."

"Hey!" A city boy had no right to insult the place she called home.

"I mean, there's nothing to do here. No toy shops, games, or even people." He gestured at their surroundings. "There's just a bunch of trees and frogs."

"It's fun here," she insisted. "It's much better than some place called Tokyo!"

"Yeah," he said, looking down at his hands, strangely quiet. "Probably."

She looked at him, stunned at his subdued answer. He smiled sadly. "You can see the sky here."

"In Tokyo, the sky's always gray and dirty. I coughed a lot." He sat down on a moss covered rock. "There aren't any trees there."

"What?"

"No, I mean, there are trees. But they all look dead and stuff. They're not really green like the ones here." He smiled at her sad expression. "It wasn't that bad though. There are a lot of people. And cars, and trains and stuff like that. It's pretty cool."

"There – there weren't any frogs?" She asked, as if that would be the determining point. Tokyo sounded like a big, noisy mess the way he was describing it. In contrast, the tiny town that she lived in seemed much better. There were green trees and a summer breeze continually flowing from the large lake nearby. It was quiet and peaceful here.

"No," he laughed, his black eyes sparkling merrily. "No. There aren't any rivers in Tokyo. They'll dry up. We have lots of birds though, lots of pigeons."

"I have a bird," the dark-haired girl offered. "Her name is Toki. She's a parakeet."

"A parakeet?"

"Yeah, she's really pretty. She's blue and white."

"That sounds nice."

"Do…" she gulped, "do you want to go see her?"

"Really?" He perked up, but then looked down again. "I don't think I can. Okaa-san would get mad if I don't go home."

"Oh." She looked down sadly.

They were silent. The cicadas on the trees chirped happily and the creek under them gurgled in the sunlight. Squirrels ran along the uppermost branches of the tall trees, covered with moss and spotted fungi. A bird squawked as it flew away. The boy finally stood up.

"So…" he began, "uh…how do we get out of this forest?"

"Huh?" She looked at him for a second.

"I said," he looked embarrassed. "How do we get out?"

"Ohhh." She laughed merrily, the tinkly sound filling the grove. "I-I almost forgot. C'mon, the town is just past the tree."

She started off across the forest, though he quickly caught up to her. He refused to walk behind her, stubbornly staying by her side. She looked at him sometimes, giggling to herself. A strange person from Tokyo who had never seen a frog. He was weird, but strangely, she thought, he seemed pretty nice. Not at all like what she thought a city boy would be like.

When they reached the edge of the forest, they stopped. She could see her house a bit down the road. She turned to the boy by her side.

"Wh-where do you live?"

"We're staying in the house with the blue roof."

"Oh," she brightened up. "Th-that's right next to mine!"

He smiled. "That's nice."

"S-so you can come over and play a lot, right?"

"No…" his voice trailed off. "I'm going back to Tokyo tomorrow. I only came for the summer."

"Aww," she sniffed, suddenly devastated. There weren't any other children her age that wanted to play with her. And just when she thought that she would finally find a playmate, he turned out to be a tourist.

"It's alright." He patted her shoulder with a small hand. "I'll try to come next summer. Then we can play."

"O-okay…" she wiped her eyes. "Uh..um…wh-what's your name?"

"Oh!" He smacked his forehead. "I forgot to tell you. I'm Sasuke Uchiha. What about you?"

"Hinata Hyuga," she smiled shyly.

"That's a pretty name."

She blushed and fiddled with her hands. Nobody had ever said that too her before. "Th-thanks…"

"Haha, no problem." If she had looked up, she would've seen the small blush on his cheeks, almost identical to her own. "So..uh…how about we get going? I'm starving."

"Oh! Okay…" Hinata replied. "L-let's go."

The two children started on the well-worn path, leading the way to the small village.

* * *

**Author's Note: This is going to be a relatively short and carefree story. I'm trying to make Sasuke and Hinata stay in character as much as possible, but since I'm changing around their life a lot (and because they're kids), they'll bound to be a bit OOC. Any suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome! Please review :]**

**moonhaku**


	2. Summer of Cicadas

_**Summer is the Time for Love**_

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

* * *

**+The Summer of Cicadas **

_Riiinnggg_

The school bell rang, followed by the cheers of the entire student body. They grabbed their backpacks, already intent on ripping up the midterm studybooks when they return home. Many planned to take a vacation and go to the beach, some wanted to visit the city – anything was possible, after all, it was the long-awaited summer vacation.

Hinata Hyuga gathered her books and got up quietly, without the usual cheer of the other students. Summer just meant sweltering heat and endless waiting. There was really nothing that great about it. She would just hole up in her room like every summer and read books until her head spun.

The people around her chattered merrily in the hallways, all in a great hurry to get home. She was alone, walking silently, but also at a quick pace. But just as she exited the front door, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Hinata-chan!" She turned around slowly, squinting in the sunlight. A shock of blond hair caught her eye. It was Naruto Uzumaki; he had arrived to Konoha a few years back and stayed here ever since. He was friendly, perhaps too friendly and reminding her of a golden retriever.

"Hello," she said softly. She doubted that he would be able to hear her greeting. He was always shouting and yelling like his eardrums were broken.

"So…are you going to do anything this summer, Hinata-chan?" Naruto had caught up with her. He shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled impishly; he looked every bit the delinquent he claimed to be. He flashed a smile at her, giving her a good view of his canines.

"No, I-I don't have anything planned." She stumbled over her words out of habit, but also unfamiliarity. Hinata rarely spoke to people; Naruto didn't seem to know that. He also didn't seem to know that she was supposed to be busy every summer. But he couldn't be blamed; after all – Hinata stopped that train of thought. It wasn't something she was supposed to think about, not now, not ever. She sighed and tried to smile back. It worked, sort of.

"Really? That's awesome!" He looked around, suddenly aware of his too-loud voice. Lowering the volume a bit, he continued, "Some friends and I are going to the beach tomorrow, do you want to come?"

"No." Her answer was clear, crisp and cold. Didn't he know that she couldn't go anywhere?

"Haha, that's what they all said you would say, you know. But I just wanted to try. It's not healthy for a sixteen year old to hole up for the summer." He put his hands behind his head.

_As if you would know, _Hinata didn't reply. Now they were both alone, on the worn dirt path that led to her home. Soon, the path would diverge and they would head their separate ways. Only a moment more, and Hinata wouldn't have to think about having any type of "fun" in the summer.

_ChirpChirp ChirpChirpChirpChirp_

"Whoa, cicadas!" Naruto exclaimed, and pointed at a tall tree. "Look! There's got to be at least ten there!"

Hinata bit her lip and looked firmly on the ground, quickening her pace. _Please, please, _please_ don't say…_

"Hey, Hinata-chan, do you want to go catch some?" He was smiling and pointing at the tree next to them. "It looks like fun; I bet I could catch a bunch!"

"N-no!" She replied thickly. Her breath hitched. _No, no, no, no_, she closed her eyes. Those memories should stay locked up forever, they should never come back. But clear as day, she heard a familiar, childish voice echoing in her head.

"_Hina-chan, do you want to go catch some cicadas? It looks like fun!" _

Her eyes snapped open, her vision was already blurry, filled with tears that she thought she could hold until she reached home.

She ran ahead, ignoring Naruto's confused calls. Within minutes, she reached her house and ran up to her room, slammed the door closed and slid down onto the floor. It was no use; the sound of the cicadas reached her ear even here. Hot tears spilled out of her eyes, and she let out a sob. It was useless to remember; damn Naruto for provoking it. Hinata put her head in between her knees, curling up into a ball. Even as the painful memories started to flow out, however, she felt a small degree of happiness. Maybe it would be fine, to get lost in the past, even though it would hurt so much more when she returned to the present.

Nothing would change, like always.

* * *

"Hina-chan, do you want to go catch some cicadas? It looks like fun!"

Hinata looked up at the boy, who was only a little bit taller than she. He seemed excited to see the insects, which were sticking to the trees and chirping happily in the summer heat.

"B-but, you don't know how to climb trees, Sasuke."

He looked discouraged for second, but then suggested, "We could just use long-handled nets, right? I saw them on TV."

"I guess…" Hinata put a finger to her lip out of nervous habit. "I think we might have some lying around in the shed."

"So let's go and get them!" He took her hand and pulled her out of her room, where they had been playing with some play-doh he'd brought from Tokyo. "I'm going to catch the most!"

"I-it's really hard though." Hinata countered. "Those nets are really heavy, and you're only seven, Sasuke."

"I'm turning eight soon!"

"But…" Hinata sighed, and relented; Sasuke was stubborn and especially convinced of his own strength. She knew that he never wanted to stay inside; that's what he always did in that strange, grey city called Tokyo. When he came to Konoha, all he wanted to do was run around outside, under the shade of the trees. But no matter how much time he spent in the sun, the paleness in his skin clung to him. It wasn't just him; Hinata looked down at her bare arms, even though she lived in Konoha, she was still impeccably pale, a little unhealthy.

"Hinata, where are you going?" Her mother asked Hinata as she and Sasuke raced out the door.

"W-we're going –"

"We're going to catch some cicadas!" Sasuke interrupted Hinata rudely, tugging anxiously on her hand. He smiled at Hinata, and then flashed the same cheerful expression at her mother, who sighed.

The older woman started humming to herself when they were gone. That little boy's smile was always irresistible. He was going to be very handsome when he grew up. _Then maybe_…she shook her head. Hiashi was always scolding her for having such thoughts. Those kids would just have to take things at their own pace.

No use meddling in something she couldn't control.

"Hey, there's a lock on the shed door." Sasuke tugged on the metal padlock impatiently as Hinata started to dig around. He looked at her curiously and poked her shoulder, "What are you doing?"

"L-looking for the key," she pulled up a bit a grass as she searched. "Papa hides a spare near the shed." Without another word, Sasuke crouched down to join her search. His small hands combed through the grass anxiously; it was obvious to see that he was impatient.

Hinata looked at Sasuke's hurriedness and sighed; maybe she should just go back inside and ask her mama for the key. After all, her papa was notorious for hiding things and then forgetting the where he had hidden it. For all she knew, the key was probably all the way under the shed, stuck in a disgusting mix of dust, mud and slime.

"I'm going to go ask mama for it," she stood up and dusted off her hands along with her blue, faded overalls. Sasuke's head was still bent down, searching diligently in the prickly grass.

"Mamaaaa," she said as she pulled open the screen door, "can I have the key for the shed?"

"What are you planning to do with that?" Her mother wiped her hands on her the dotted apron and pulled open a kitchen drawer, rummaging through the mess of keys, rubber bands and paper.

"Sasuke said he wanted to catch cicadas." Hinata played with the screen as she waited patiently for her mother to find the key.

"He's sure one curious little boy." Her mother sighed, and held up a metal key and gave it to Hinata. "Be sure to be back by lunch. We're just having some sushi today."

"Okay, thanks mama." Hinata smiled and walked out.

"Oh, and Hinata?"

"Huh?" Hinata turned her head. Her mother gestured to the key.

"Be sure that you let them go before you come in the house. Remember what happened last time?"

The little girl nodded slowly; it would be difficult to convince Sasuke to part with the flying insects, but she would have to. "Okay."

"Bye, honey. Have a good time." Her mother smiled and waved Hinata on. After Hinata left, she dipped her hand into the rice pot again and started spreading it over the seaweed carefully laid on the bamboo mat on the counter. _Cicada-catching, it must be nice to be young. _

"What does she mean what happened last time?" Sasuke was standing right outside when Hinata closed the door. His hands were muddy and his knees were grass-stained.

"Last time I went and caught cicadas with Kiba." Sasuke frowned when she mentioned the other boy's name.

"I brought them home and they flew out of the jar. Mama fainted and papa had to call Aburame-san to get rid of them. They were really mad at me." She shrugged her shoulders, "Mama's really scared of bugs."

"You shouldn't play with Kiba anymore." Sasuke stated bluntly, he looked at her with serious black eyes.

"Why? He's nice." Hinata stared at him, wondering what was making him so edgy.

"You should play with me."

"You're not here all the time." He winced at her words.

"I wish I could be." He looked sad for a moment. But he quickly recovered and looked at her again with those unnaturally serious eyes again. "You still shouldn't play with him anymore."

"You can't tell me what to do." Hinata furrowed her brow. "You're not my papa." Sasuke was acting odd; she just wanted to go and catch cicadas. There was really no point in this argument.

"I'm older than you, so you should just listen to me."

"So? I can do whatever I want!" Hinata felt her temper rising, something that rarely happened. Her parents had always taken pride in her pleasant temper. Sasuke looked like he was about to retort, but he just shook his head. Instead, he snatched the key out of her hand and ran toward the shed.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" He yelled as he quickly descended the steps. Hinata stared at him for a second, uncomprehending. Then she tore after him, jumping down the last two steps of the stairs.

"That's not fair!" She said when she caught up with him, his hand already on the shed door and a crooked smile on his fair face. "You cheated."

"Sorry," but his face looked anything other than penitent. He smiled crookedly and she couldn't hold her anger any longer. He was her friend, after all. "You can open the shed, if you want." He held out the key to her.

"Thanks." She took the key and jammed it into the brass lock. With a smart click, the lock opened and Sasuke pulled on the heavy metal handle. The hinges opened smoothly; her father had always taken great pride in polishing and oiling them. Sasuke walked in, waving at the small amount of dust that had flown up in his face. The nets were leaning against the wall at the end of the shed. They were cheap, plastic ones.

Sasuke dragged two out of the shed and handed one to Hinata. It was at least two times her height. He waved it around experimentally.

"It's not that heavy." He seemed pleased, "You said they were."

"They're plastic. The metal one is probably heavier than you." Hinata stated.

He scowled. "I bet I could use that one too!" He ran into the shed, laid the plastic one against the wall and pushed some boxes away from the metal net. He tugged it and it fell with a clang. Using all his strength, he pulled it up and staggered to the grass.

"See?" He panted. "I…can…carry…it…."

"You won't be able to catch anything in it." Hinata said, "Just use the plastic one."

"No! I'm going to use this one."

"Fine." Annoyed that he wasn't going to take her advice, she frowned and turned around, stalking out to the forest. "Use it if you want."

"Hey! Wait for me." Sasuke staggered a few steps with the metal pole and let it drop on the ground. Hinata continued. If he wasn't going to listen to her, he wasn't going to get very far anyway. When she reached the edge of the road, she turned back and sighed. He was still struggling with the heavy metal pole. _Boys are so stubborn!_ She stood by the side of the dirt path and waited for him. After a few minutes, he was standing next to her, face red and panting heavily.

"Just leave it behind," Hinata continued her nagging. She didn't want to carry it back for him, and it seemed as if she would have to. "You'll fall in the lake."

"Will not!" Sasuke huffed and tried to balance the metal pole on the ground, though it swayed dangerously as if it were about crush him. Hinata rolled her eyes and tapped the ground with her comparatively light plastic net. Fine, if that was the way he wanted it, he'll just fall into the lake. He needed the cooling off anyway.

"The cicadas usually hide in the clearing over there," Hinata pointed to the trees in front of her. She was just about to take a step when she noticed that Sasuke had crossed the road, somehow, staggering with his heavy net.

"Follow me!" He declared confidently, as if he knew where to go. Hinata scowled and ran to catch up with him. He wasn't about to lead _her_ to _her_ secret cicada catching spot. Stupid city boy.

"Agh!" Sasuke tripped on a tree root and tumbled into the grass beside her. The metal net bounced off the tree and smacked his shoulder before falling harmlessly onto the grass.

He sat up, his nose dirty and the front of his shirt covered with twigs. His knees were red underneath the dust, but otherwise unharmed.

"Sasuke!" Hinata dropped her net and knelt down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he winced as he propped himself up on his shoulder.

"Does it hurt?"

"Yeah…" Sasuke grimaced, but quickly changed his expression when he saw Hinata's worried face. He smiled and rotated his shoulder, "But I'll be fine! Aniki says that men have to be strong."

"You're only seven though," Hinata couldn't keep the teasing tone from her voice.

"I'll be eight in a week!" Sasuke half shouted at her. She laughed, and tried to help him up, though he just swatted at her arm. She walked back to pick up her plastic net and again, tried to help him pick up his metal one, but he just swatted her away again. Apparently "men don't need help".

The chauvinistic attitude was really getting on Hinata's young nerves.

After a few moments of smooth traveling, the trees parted and they found themselves in a clearing with some old, twisted trees dotting the grass. The loud keening of cicadas were the loudest here and there were at least ten or more cicada on one side of each tree.

"Wow…." Sasuke involuntarily let out as he stared up the tall tree trunk. "This beats TV."

Hinata turned to her friend, and shyly said, "I'll teach you how to catch cicada's, Sasuke."

He turned and scowled, "I know how to catch cicadas! I bet I'll catch even more than you!"

"B-but mother said we have to leave them outside," Hinata replied. "Or else we'll have to call A-Aburame-san."

"Who's Aburame-san?" The name piqued Sasuke's interest. He didn't know any of the neighboring people; he spent all his time in his room or with Hinata.

"He gets rid of bugs, I think," Hinata said. "Last time, I caught b-bugs and mom was really upset a-and Aburame-san had to come to get rid of them."

"It's okay, I'll take them home," Sasuke said confidently.

"Won't your mom get mad?"

"She'll be fine," Sasuke looked away from her uncertainly. His mom had never _mentioned_not liking bugs. She had freaked out once when there was a silverfish crawling up the wall, back in the city, but he was sure that she wouldn't be afraid of cicadas. Besides, silverfish and cicada were completely different. Right?

Hinata, in the meanwhile, had decided to take action. Never one for running around, she decided to take some cicada shells first.

The shells were lightly glued onto the trees bark, but a little prodding allowed them to give way. Soon, she had a whole handful of crisp cicada shells. Her mom wouldn't mind if she took home just one, right?

"Argh!" The frustrated yells of her friend caught her attention. She could see Sasuke struggling with his heavy metal pole as he tried to catch a cicada, which was flitting artfully out of his reach.

He tried to chase it to every tree it escaped to, but most of the time, he just tripped on his own net. Hinata giggled lightly when he accidentally smacked into a tree; his angry scowls just furthered his own humiliation and her cheer.

She was just about to offer him one of her shells – though she knew he would refuse it – when he yelled, "Caught one!"

Hinata ran over and inspected the cicada trapped under the net on the ground. Somehow, when his net was swinging wildly in the air, he had managed to bring a cicada onto the ground and trap it there with his net. The poor insect was chirping nervously. Hinata felt a shiver run down her spine as she surveyed the bug – it was _huge_.

Sasuke removed the net and caught the cicada between his fingers.

"It's so _big_, Hinata!" He exclaimed, his face breaking into a rare expression of joy. Hinata smiled and then looked up at the sky, realizing that they had probably been at it for over an hour. Her mother would have expected them for lunch already.

Quickly, she shook Sasuke's shoulder, "We have to go back now."

"Awww, but I just caught this!" Sasuke wrapped his hands around his gigantic cicada possessively.

"You could just take it home," Hinata said, "Y-you said your mom was okay with it." She picked out her favorite cicada shells, one with variations of dark brown and another with light gold patterns on the back, and sprinkled the others on the ground. Maybe they would decompose or something.

"I did, but…" Sasuke looked down at the insect in his hand. The cicada was a bug, and he didn't know if his mom was okay with that.

"C'mon," Hinata gripped her plastic net and tugged on Sasuke's shirt. "We have to go now."

"O-okay," Sasuke stammered for once. He took a deep breath and tucked the cicada into the folds of his shorts' pocket. He patted it twice, picked up the end of the metal net and dragged it behind him.

When the two had crossed the dirt path, Sasuke decided that he would take the cicada home. Hinata's mother _had_ said she didn't want cicadas in her house. Hinata gazed at him as he walked up the steps to his house's porch. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea…

From the screams that had ensued, she bit her lip and deduced, yeah it definitely hadn't been such a good idea.

At least the sushi was good. And Sasuke had let her give one of her shells to him.

Maybe he was learning, after all.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm…uh…back? I actually sort of realized I love this story. It's actually summer now, and I'm somehow back in the fandom. You know the drill, press the review button.

moonhaku


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